A system and method for tracking fiber along a textile supply chain aids in product tracking and can verify fiber source/origin. However, verifying the fiber origin and type in a textile product purchased at a retail location back to the bale is complicated by the nature of textile processes along the supply chain. The system as described in the present application addresses complications, such as contamination/cross-contamination, and is used to track fiber from bales of fiber processed into a textile product throughout a sequence of textile operations. The system captures, for each textile operation, a) input information, b) output information, and c) equipment information related to the equipment used in the textile operation. The output information is associated with the input information of a subsequent textile operation, thereby associating the input information and output information, for each textile operation, with the fiber information for the bales of fiber.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method for making a textile product, the method comprising: tagging bales of staple fiber with bale tags, wherein the bale tags include fiber information concerning the bales of staple fiber; capturing the fiber information contained in the bale tags; processing the bales of staple fiber into a textile product through a sequence of textile operations, wherein the sequence of textile operations comprises at least 1) processing the bales of staple fiber into slivers of fiber in a fiber preparation operation, 2) processing the slivers of fiber into yarns in a yarn spinning operation, and 3) processing the yarns into the textile product in a textile product formation operation, wherein each textile operation has an input, an output, equipment, an input tag that contains input information related to the input, an output tag that contains output information related to the output, and an equipment tag that contains equipment information related to the equipment for the respective textile operation; capturing, for each textile operation in the sequence of textile operations, a) input information contained in the input tag, b) output information contained in the output tag, and c) equipment information contained in the equipment tag; defining, via a computer system, a relationship between the input and the output for each textile operation based on the input information, the output information, and the equipment information; and associating, via the computer system, the fiber information for the bales of staple fiber with the textile product based on the relationship between the input, the output, and the equipment for each textile operation in the sequence of textile operations, wherein the output information for each textile operation is associated with the input information of a subsequent textile operation, thereby associating the input information and output information for each textile operation with the fiber information for the bales of staple fiber.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the fiber information comprises a fiber lot number for the bales of staple fiber.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the fiber information further comprises at least one of 1) a vendor of the bales of staple fiber, 2) an origin of the bales of staple fiber, 3) a fiber type of the bale of fiber, and 4) one or more quality parameters for the bales of staple fiber.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first textile operation is the fiber preparation operation, wherein the method further comprises: arranging the bales of staple fiber into one or more bin locations, wherein each bin location includes a bin tag that contains bin information; capturing the bin information contained in the bin tag; and associating, via the computer system, the bin information with the fiber information, wherein the input information for the fiber preparation operation includes the fiber information and the bin information.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the equipment in the fiber preparation operation includes a blender, a carding machine, a draw frame, and optionally a comber.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the blender includes a tag that contains information related to the blender, wherein the method includes: capturing the information contained in the tag for the blender.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the carding machine includes an equipment tag that contains information related to the carding machine, wherein the method includes: capturing the information contained in the tag for the carding machine.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the draw frame includes a tag that contains information related to the draw frame, wherein the method includes: capturing the information contained in the tag for the draw frame.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the comber includes a tag that contains information related to the comber, wherein the method includes: capturing the information contained in the tag for the comber.
10. The method of claim 4 , wherein the sequence of textile operations comprises a fiber blending operation, wherein the method comprises: capturing the information contained in the input tag for the fiber blending operation; capturing the information contained in the output tag for the fiber blending operation; capturing the information contained in the equipment tag for the equipment used in the fiber blending operation; and associating the fiber information concerning the bales of staple fiber with the output of the fiber blending operation based on the relationship between the input and the output of the fiber blending operation.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the sequence of textile operations comprises a fiber carding operation after the fiber blending operation, wherein the method comprises: capturing the information contained in the input tag for the fiber carding operation; capturing the information contained in the output tag for the fiber carding operation; capturing the information contained in the equipment tag for the equipment used in the fiber carding operation; and associating the fiber information concerning the bales of staple fiber with the output of the fiber carding operation based on the relationship between the input and the output of the fiber carding operation.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the equipment of the yarn spinning operation includes at least one of a speed frame, a yarn spinning frame, a winder, and an auto-coner.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the speed frame includes a tag that contains information related to the speed frame, wherein the method includes: capturing the information contained in the tag for the speed frame.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of textile operations comprises a drawing operation, wherein the method comprises: capturing the information contained in the input tag for the drawing operation; capturing the information contained in the output tag for the drawing operation; and capturing the information contained in the equipment tag for the equipment used in the drawing operation; and associating the fiber information concerning the bales of staple fiber with the output of the drawing operation based on the relationship between the input and the output of the drawing operation.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of textile operations comprises a yarn storage operation, wherein the method comprises: capturing the information contained in the input tag for the yarn storage operation; capturing the information contained in the output tag for the yarn storage operation; and capturing the information contained in the equipment tag for the equipment used in the yarn storage operation.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the textile product formation operation comprises a greige fabric formation operation, wherein the method comprises: capturing the information contained in the input tag for the greige fabric formation operation; capturing the information contained in the output tag for the greige fabric formation operation; capturing the information contained in the equipment tag for the equipment used in the greige fabric formation operation; defining, via the computer system, a relationship between the input and the output of the greige fabric formation based on the input information, the output information, and the equipment information for the greige fabric formation operation; and associating, via the computer system, the fiber information concerning the bales of staple fiber with the output of the greige fabric formation operation based on the relationship between the input and the output of the greige fabric formation operation.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of textile operations further comprises a greige fabric storage and batching operation, wherein the method comprises: capturing the information contained in the input tag for the greige fabric storage and batching operation; capturing the information contained in the output tag for the greige fabric storage and batching operation; capturing the information contained in the equipment tag for the equipment used in the greige fabric storage and batching operation; defining, via the computer system, a relationship between the input and the output of the greige fabric storage operation based on the input information, the output information, and the equipment information for the greige fabric storage and batching operation; and associating, via the computer system, the fiber information concerning the bales of staple fiber with the output of the greige fabric storage and batching operation based on the relationship between the input and the output of the greige fabric storage and batching operation.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of textile operations further comprises a greige processing operation, wherein the method comprises: capturing the information contained in the input tag for the greige processing operation; capturing the information contained in the output tag for the greige processing operation; capturing the information contained in the equipment tag for the equipment used in the greige processing operation; defining, via the computer system, a relationship between the input and the output of the greige processing operation based on the input information, the output information, and the equipment information for the greige processing operation; and associating, via the computer system, the fiber information concerning the bales of staple fiber with the output of the greige processing operation based on the relationship between the input and the output of the greige processing operation.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of textile operations further comprises a cut and sew operation, wherein the method comprises: capturing the information contained in the input tag for the cut and sew operation; capturing the information contained in the output tag for the cut and sew operation; capturing the information contained in the equipment tag for the equipment used in the cut and sew operation; defining, via the computer system, a relationship between the input and the output of the cut and sew operation based on the input information, the output information, and the equipment information for the cut and sew operation; and associating, via the computer system, the fiber information concerning the bales of staple fiber with the output of the cut and sew operation based on the relationship between the input and the output of the cut and sew operation.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of textile operations further comprises a warehouse storage operation, wherein the method comprises: capturing the information contained in the input tag for the warehouse storage operation; capturing the information contained in the output tag for the warehouse storage operation; capturing the information contained in the equipment tag for the equipment used in the warehouse storage operation; defining, via the computer system, a relationship between the input and the output of the warehouse storage operation based on the input information, the output information, and the equipment information for the warehouse storage operation; and associating, via the computer system, the fiber information concerning the bales of staple fiber with the output of the warehouse storage operation based on the relationship between the input and the output of the warehouse storage operation.
21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the capturing step is performed electronically.
22. A textile manufacturing system, the system comprising: a set of tags configured to be coupled to bales of fiber; a set of input tags coupled to inputs of a plurality of textile operations that transform the fiber in the bales of fibers into a textile product; a plurality of units of textile equipment; a set of textile equipment tags, wherein each of the textile equipment tags is coupled to a respective one of the units of textile equipment; a set of output tags coupled to outputs of the plurality of textile operations; a set of tag readers configured to obtain information from a) the set of tags, b) the set of input tags and the set of output tags for each one of the plurality of textile operations, and c) the set of textile equipment tags for each of the units of textile equipment; and a computer system in electronic communication with the set of tag readers, the computer system having: i. a computer processor configured to a) define a relationship between an input, one of the units of textile equipment, and an output of each textile operation based on information captured from the set of input tags, the set of textile equipment tags, and the set of output tags, and b) define an association between the relationship between the input and the output of each textile operation, and the fiber information for the bales of fiber captured from the tag; and ii. a computer memory having stored thereon the association between the input and the output of each textile operation and the fiber information for the bales of fiber captured from the tag.
23. A method for making a textile product, the method comprising: capturing fiber information contained in bale tags on bales of staple fiber, wherein the bale tags include fiber information concerning the bales of staple fiber; processing the bales of staple fiber in a fiber preparation operation into slivers of fibers, wherein the fiber preparation operation includes an input as the bales of staple fiber, an output as slivers of fiber, and fiber preparation equipment that transforms the bales of staple fiber into the slivers of fiber; capturing, for the fiber preparation operation, a) input information contained in an input tag for the fiber preparation operation, b) output information contained in an output tag for the fiber preparation operation, and c) equipment information contained in an equipment tag for the fiber preparation operation; processing the slivers of fiber into yarns in a yarn spinning operation, wherein the yarn spinning operation includes an input as the slivers fibers, an output as the yarns, and yarn spinning equipment that transforms the slivers of fibers into the yarns; capturing, for the yarn spinning operation, a) input information contained in an input tag for the yarn spinning operation, b) output information contained in an output tag for the yarn spinning operation, and c) equipment information contained in an equipment tag for the yarn spinning operation; processing the yarns into a textile product in a textile product formation operation; capturing, for the textile product formation operation, a) input information contained in an input tag for the textile product formation operation, b) output information contained in an output tag for the textile product formation operation, and c) equipment information contained in an equipment tag for the textile product formation operation; and associating, via the computer system, the fiber information for the bales of staple fiber with the textile product based on a relationship between the input and the output for each operation, wherein the output information for each operation is associated with the input information of a subsequent operation, thereby associating the input information and output information for each operation with the fiber information for the bales of staple fiber.
24. The method of claim 23 , further comprising defining, via a computer system, the relationship between the input and the output for each operation based on the input information, the output information, and the equipment information for each operation.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein a first textile operation is the fiber preparation operation, wherein the method further comprises: arranging the bales of staple fiber into one or more bin locations, wherein each bin location includes a bin tag that contains bin information; capturing the bin information contained in the bin tag; and associating, via the computer system, the bin information with the fiber information, wherein the input information for the fiber preparation operation includes the fiber information and the bin information.
26. The method of claim 24 , further comprising: processing the bales of staple fiber in a fiber blending operation; capturing information contained in an input tag for the fiber blending operation; capturing information contained in an output tag for the fiber blending operation; and capturing information contained in an equipment tag for equipment used in the fiber blending operation.
27. The method of claim 24 , wherein the textile product formation operation comprises a greige fabric formation operation, wherein the method comprises: capturing information contained in an input tag for the greige fabric formation operation; capturing information contained in an output tag for the greige fabric formation operation; capturing information contained in an equipment tag for equipment used in the greige fabric formation operation.
28. The method of claim 25 , wherein the equipment in the fiber preparation operation includes a blender, a carding machine, a draw frame, and optionally a comber.
29. The method of claim 23 , wherein the yarn spinning equipment of the yarn spinning operation includes at least one of a speed frame, a yarn spinning frame, a winder, and an auto-coner.
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December 19, 2016
November 7, 2017
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